Project Chimera
by Drake Dragonsoul
Summary: Professor Tachibana created something he dreamed would advance mankind only for his superiors to turn his creation into an instrument of war. Ted is one such instrument of war. Can the two keep Tachibana's creation from destroying humanity completely?
1. Testing

Disclaimer: I don't own Aliens. And for good measure, I don't own Shin Kamen Rider on which about ten percent of this idea is based.

Chapter 1

Testing

_Lunar Military Research Base, Chief Staff Meeting, two years ago._

He stood at the end of a long oak conference table, General Baxter and the other military personal with high enough clearance glared down at him, along with the government stooges here only to ferret word of his progress back to their masters. The head scientists sat closest to him and their presence made him feel a tad more secure. He always felt nervous before these damn meetings.

Professor Tachibana cleared his throat. His grey hair had been washed and brushed for the occasion. He still felt keenly aware of the growing bald spot atop his head and wished for a hat. Still, he looked good for a man approaching his sixties.

"As you're all aware," the Professor began. "Project Chimera has proceeded well. We're almost ready to begin human testing."

One of the political stooges cleared his throat. Tachibana failed to recognize him. "Aren't you perhaps being a little hasty? Do you want a repeat of the Ripley 8 fiasco?"

"I'm sorry, Mister…"

"Samuel Porter."

"Mister Porter," Tachibana nodded. "You're new here so I'll make this quick. The incident to which you refer was the unfortunate result of ignorance. The parties involved obviously had no idea what they were doing. This is often the case when one is dealing with the aliens, but you'll find things are different here. We keep all our live specimens in cryosleep in secure containers and we fully intend to test the parameters of our creations, rather than just throwing them into a containment cell and playing with the more dangerous and uncontrollable xenomorphs. Furthermore, our test subjects will all be volunteers and made aware of all potential dangers. No unpredictable clones here."

"What makes you think anyone will want to volunteer for this project?" Porter asked.

Tachibana chuckled. Porter smelled another longwinded speech coming. The Professor's nervousness seemed to be gone now. A lot more thought had gone into the project than Porter put into his incessant worries.

"The terminally ill for one," Tachibana began. "We could revolutionize the medical industry with this! They are not our first choice though. We will begin with military volunteers, preferably those without much to lose. Once we see the results of that test, we'll began introducing the process to the public."

"I admire your naivety, Professor," General Baxter said. "But for the foreseeable future, the Chimera Project is strictly military. We plan to create a black ops unit if things go well."

The Professor stood speechless for a moment, staring at the General in surprise. He turned to his fellow scientists most of whom simply shrugged.

"Perhaps after a few years, we'll expand the project's scope to civilians," Baxter continued.

"Any other questions?" Tachibana asked his voice barely audible to the room.

* * *

_Planet Ridley, somewhere in the Jaidee Desert, present day._

The small transport craft descended, kicking up a cloud of yellow sand as it neared the ground. Colonel Davis watched it with a frown. It set down and the engines became quiet.

Davis hated it when HQ stepped on his toes. His men could handle a small-scale terrorist group. However, HQ ordered them to wait for this fancy team.

He spent some time thinking the proceedings over and decided that the terrorists got themselves something that the higher-ups didn't want small fries like him seeing.

A ramp lowered from the rear of the craft and a small squad in combat gear descended it. A tall black-haired woman led the group, the commander of the little team. HQ named her as Lieutenant Lila McCollum, though Davis suspected the name to be an alias.

The Lieutenant stopped in front of him and raised her hand to her head. Davis hesitated a moment before returning the salute. Lila's expression betrayed no emotion.

One of her men stood beside her, also saluting. Davis found it shocking how thin the man was. His hands appears almost skeletal and his face shrunken and hollow. The Colonel's insides twisted uncomfortably when they made eye contact.

"Lieutenant McCollum," Lila introduced herself. "This is Sergeant Sanders."

Davis stared the two down. The rest of the special unit stood behind the two before him. They all appeared to be hardened military men, except for two who looked just as sickly as Sanders.

"Pleasure to meet you," he growled.

"What's the situation?" Lila asked.

"You've got our report-"

"Sir, I'd rather here it from someone on the site," Lila interrupted. "Please help me do my job, keep my team safe, and we'll be off your planet before sunset."

"All right then," Davis said.

* * *

"Man, I love the feel of those rays!" Ted exclaimed spreading his arms and rotating on the spot, letting the desert sun soak into his pale skin. He stretched his thin arms above his head, glad to be alive and out of cryo.

"This place is too hot," Ben complained, removing his helmet and rubbing an arm over his sweating brow. "What kind of nutcases decided to settle in this rural hellhole?"

"Watch it, Benny," Jones said. "Some of us are from rural hellholes not much different from this."

Ben grinned at the taller soldier. "Ah, you know I respect your humble beginnings, but it says something that you didn't go into the cattle business."

"If you weren't my friend you'd be eating sand right now," Jones said.

"Not my fault you got poor choice in friends."

Ted began moving away from the quarrel, heading over to Jesse. They looked like a pair of skinny twins standing next to each other, though Jesse stood a few inches shorter.

"Are they at it again?" Jesse asked, glancing over at Ben and Jones.

"Yep," Ted sighed, looking around at the small base erected from tents and camouflage netting. Members of the local army lounged around with nothing to do.

Two enlisted men passed near the two. The taller of the two stopped and stared at them. Ted could almost hear the gears turning in his head.

"Aw, crap," Jesse groaned as he started in their direction. "Don't do it, just walk away."

The soldier continued towards them, his cocky expression made it clear he wanted trouble. His friend noticed his absence and turned to see where he went. A second passed then he ran to catch up with his pal.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" Ted asked as they stopped in front of him.

"We were just wondering something," the cocky one said. "Why does HQ think twigs like you are going to do a better job than us at storming that cave?"

"I wouldn't know anything about how they think, you know officers," Ted shrugged and forced a chuckle. "We're just doing our jobs."

"Apparently, you know more than us, string bean," Cocky said. His pal nodded.

Ted sighed, his lighthearted attitude evaporating. Jesse took over trying to negotiate. "Look, buddy, we don't want any trouble. I know us being here offends your machoness, but picking a fight won't help your self-esteem."

"I don't know about that," Cocky said.

He drew his arm back and swung at Ted. The special operative moved faster, grabbing Cocky's wrist. Thin fingers squeezed Cocky's arm like a vice. Ted lashed out with his foot and knocked his opponent's legs out from under him. The enlisted man hit the sand with a grunt.

Ted stepped back and Jesse chuckled. "Best two out of three?"

Cocky's friend helped him back to his feet and the two scrambled away, but not before spitting off one more remark. "Freaks!"

Ted frowned and Jesse's chuckling ceased.

"Sore losers!" Jesse shouted, though a little too late for it to reach the duo.

"Hey, guys," Jones stepped over to them. They both jumped, afraid they'd been caught causing trouble. "The Captain's holding a briefing over by the transport."

"We'll be right over," Jesse said.

Jones shrugged and headed back toward the craft. Ted and Jesse let him get a few feet ahead before following.

"You should've broken his wrist," Jesse whispered.

"I should've broken his wrist," Ted agreed.

The unit assembled on the ramp of their transport, sitting down while Lila and Ralph stood in front of them. Ted and Jesse took spots near the back.

"Okay, a quick refresher while we're here," Lila began. "Members of the Sequatos Church are holed up in that cave over there. The church is one of those xeno-worshipping cults and already responsible for infesting one colony. Word is they got their hands on some more eggs. Fortunately, the local military pinned them down in this cave, but they're dug in pretty well and they have hostages."

"Have any of the hostages been harmed?" Ted asked.

"Not yet, though we only have the Sequatos' word on that," Ralph replied with a frown.

"There are sentry guns set up inside the cave," Lila continued. "Explosives have been considered to destroy them, but that might set off a cave-in."

"Well, that's that," Ben said. "Are we going home?"

"Hardly," Lila replied. He raised her arm, displaying the sheet of paper in her hand. "I've got a map of the cave system here and there's another way in, but it's a small crack and a crawl down through complete darkness, part of the tunnel might be submerged."

"Oh, great," Jesse muttered under his breath.

"Ralph, Jesse, and Ted are going to try the back way," Lila said. "If they get through, they'll appraise the situation."

"Hey, maybe if you guys let them see your game faces they'll be too busy worshipping to notice you freeing the hostages?" Ben asked with a grin.

"Shut up, Ben," Ralph growled.

Ben frowned and turned to Jones, who shook his head disapprovingly.

"Remember we need some of these cultists alive," Lila said. "We have to find out just where they're getting all these eggs from. Someone's giving away the government's eggs without permission; it's our job to find out whom."


	2. Insertion

Disclaimer: I don't own Aliens.

Chapter 2

Insertion

Ted rubbed at his eyes as the wind picked up and blew sand in his face. Lila emerged from the transport hold and stepped down the ramp. She stopped in front of them and held out her hand, displaying three syringes.

"Maybe we should wait for the weather to improve," Jesse suggested, waving a finger to indicate the growing sandstorm.

"Come on, you baby," Ted said, reaching out and taking one of the syringes. None of them liked taking the needles.

"Just saying," Jesse shrugged as he and Ralph each took a syringe.

"We're taking the transport to the crack," Lila said. "Everyone else stays here to guard the front door."

"Groovy," Jesse muttered.

The four trudged into the transport. Ralph pounded a fist against the control button and the ramp retracted with a mechanical whirring. Jesse leaned against the APC. Lila ducked into the cockpit, a small space towards the front with two seats. Ted dropped into the copilot seat next to her.

Lila started the ship, the engine coming alive with a low hum. It lifted off the ground, the passengers barely feeling the momentum. The flight would take only a few minutes, but the crawl through the tunnels would last much longer.

"How are you feeling?" Lila asked.

"Fine," Ted replied.

"You guys just be careful," she warned. "The rest of us won't be there to back you up if you get into trouble this time."

"What makes you think we'll get in trouble?" Ted studied the gauges. He continued in his best action hero impression. "We're an elite team of shadowy special operatives. Trouble is afraid to come near us."

"Eyes front," Lila said. "We're at the site."

Ted stared out the window as the ship lowered towards the ground. It set down with a mild jerk. They stood up and walked back into the ship's hold.

"All right," Lila said. "Time to get moving."

They nodded and began stripping off their uniforms. Lila ducked into the APC, partly to preserve their modesty, but mostly because she hated watching what came next.

Ralph kicked off his pants and the three stood there in their underwear. Ted held up his syringe and jabbed it into his arm. The other two followed a second later. The empty syringes clattered against the floor and they waited a few seconds.

Ted gasped as chills swept through him. He gagged as his throat filled with spittle. The clear liquid spilled out of his mouth, soaking his chest. His pale skin darkened, turning black and hardening. His fingers extended, his nails growing into claws. Four short tubes, two on each side, exploded out of his back. He groaned in pain as his teeth grew too large for his mouth and their sharpening points tore into his misshapen mouth.

Finally, his head caught up to the rest of his body and began growing larger. His thin layer of hair fell out as the back of his head bulged. The growing dome didn't extend too far, becoming only a third of the size of a true alien's head.

Facial features began to vanish next; his eyebrows went the same way as his hair. His nose shrank back into his face, while his sockets tightened around his eyeballs. A hard carapace covered his eyes and blinded Ted. Then the alien's sight organ replaced his eyes and he could see again. His mouth grew wider, finally fitting his fangs. He drew his lips back, displaying his silver teeth. His tongue hardened and grew stiff, becoming a useless combination of alien inner jaws and human tongue.

Ted clenched and unclenched his fists, before cracking his neck. The scent of the other two reached him in more detail than he ever experienced through his human nose. He could smell faint traces of what they'd eaten for breakfast and even glean a sense of their emotional state at that moment. A sixth sense further heightened his perception of his comrade's thoughts.

A fourth weaker presence emanated from the APC. The Psych Chip in Lila's head allowed her to hear and communicate with the hybrids. It eliminated the need for radios between them.

"Let's grab our gear and get moving," Ralph ordered,

He stepped over to a small metal crate and tapped in a code on its number pad. The container beeped and Ralph slid the top off.

Ted slid off his underwear, Jesse followed a second later. None of them felt embarrassed when naked in their alien forms. Ralph pulled a pair of vests made up of straps and handed one to each of them.

They slid the vests on, clipping them tight to their chests. The straps fitted around the tubes on their backs and clung tight to their boney chests. Ted clicked on the miniature camera mounted on the vest's right shoulder.

"How's the reception?" Ted called over the link.

"It's fine," Lila's mental voice sounded from the APC.

Jesse passed a slim silver tube to Ted who clipped it unto his vest. A second grenade followed the first. Each took two grenades. Ralph removed a pistol next and placed it in the holster attached to the bottom right strap of his vest. He handed an identical gun to the other two. They stored several ammo clips in their vest pouches.

Ralph turned and led the way towards the back of the ship. Ted and Jesse followed without a word as he lowered the ramp. The trio of nearly identical hybrids charged out the opening at a light run.

As Ted's feet hit the red rock, he barely felt the heat of the desert. The sand whipped at his body, but that too went unnoticed. He no longer had eyes for the sand to irritate.

"The entrance should be about ten meters ahead," Lila informed.

Stopping at the rock's edge, Ralph examined the next sheet of rock several meters down. One by one, the hybrids leapt off the side. They turned to find a small crack opening in the wall before them.

"There's our way in, boys," Ralph said.

He dropped onto his stomach and crawled into the dark hole. Ted and Jesse glanced at each other. The later cocked his head to the side and the former crawled into the hole. Jesse followed at the back.

Ted felt his tubes brushing against the roof of the tunnel. He sensed Ralph in front of him through scent, hive link, and his electricity detecting sense. If he released a low hiss, he could glean the shape of the tunnel from the bouncing sound waves.

"How's our signal?" Ralph asked.

A few seconds passed before Lila's reply. "Loud and clear."

"Hold on, you guys smell that?" Ralph asked, halting.

Ted stopped and sucked air into his mouth, a familiar scent reached his mind.

"Salt water," Jesse said.

"Let's keep going," Ralph ordered. "When we get to the water, I'll go through and see if we can swim it before we run out of air. I'll call back to you if I reach the other side."

With the plan formed, they continued down the tunnel. Ralph's claws soon splashed water and the trio halted.

"Good luck," Ted said.

Ralph didn't reply audibly, but Ted thought he saw his head bob up and down in the darkness. The hybrid splashed into the water and then everything went silent. The two waited for Ralph to call back to them.

Tests back at the lunar base had revealed many of the hybrids' capabilities. They knew they could last without air for much longer than a human could, but Ted had forgotten exactly how long. He should've started counting the seconds off when Ralph went into the water.

He felt sure that Ralph had gone too far to turn back and if the tunnel stayed narrow, he would have to swim out backwards. Ted could've used their link to find out Ralph's situation, but feared distracting Ralph for even a moment.

"Okay, guys," Ralph's voice reach them and they breathed a sigh of relief. "It's a bit of a swim, but you should be able to make it. Ted first, then Jesse."

"Duh, I'm not squeezing past boulder butt," Jesse remarked.

Ted growled in mild annoyance before crawling forward. His hand hit the water and he inhaled deeply before plunging into the cold stream. The hybrid grabbed the rocky edges of the tunnel and pulled himself along, kicking with his feet. Echolocation guided him through the dark water. He couldn't smell anything through the water and the darkness continued to render him almost blind.

Just as his lungs began burning for air, the surface of the water bounced back to him on echolocation. He kicked upwards and breathed deeply as he burst out of the water.

"Wasn't that fun?" Ralph asked.

Ted sighed and pulled himself out of the water. "All right, Jess. I'm through."

This time he counted off the seconds in his mind. Jesse's head broke the surface and sent droplets flying at five minutes and nineteen seconds.

"Where'd Ralph go?" Jesse asked.

Ted glanced forwards and saw nothing, but darkness. He hissed and the sound waves bounced back with a picture of an empty tunnel. "Ralph?"

"Sorry, I went on ahead," his voice replied. "The Sequatos' cavern isn't far ahead."

"How's the situation look?" Ted asked as he crawled forward.

"Looks like they got a whole command center or something set up," Ralph replied. "A few guards, but I can't see much more from here."

Light shone through a small crack ahead and the tunnel widened. Ted climbed upright and spotted Ralph hanging from the wall next to the crack. The opening there would be wide enough for them to squeeze through.

Ted gripped the wall with his claws and climbed up. Thankfully, the rock provided plenty of handholds. He often wished he had the ability to scale any surface like the xenomorphs, but the transformation didn't allow it.

He peered out at the cavern beyond. Guards dressed in red and black robes stood around the room, each armed with a submachine gun. Large metal crates were stacked around the center of the room, electronic equipment sat on top of the crates, including the control panels for the sentry guns. The guns stood at the cavern's exit, rotating left and right in search of targets. A generator sat off to the right side of the crates, wires ran from it to the lights set up around the cave.

The hostages huddled against the wall to Ted's left. There looked to be about ten to fifteen of them, guarded by three Sequatos. Large tube-shaped containers sat in front of the hostages, either a green egg or a pale crab-like creature was visible through the clear glass of the tubes. The facehuggers pressed against the walls, eager to escape and fulfill their purpose.

"Lila? We've reached the Sequatos' holdout," Ralph said.

"Oh, man," Jesse groaned, peering over the crack.

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry, guys. I intended to put some action in this chapter, but it got too long. You'll just have to wait for next chapter for all hell to break loose.


	3. Clean Up

Disclaimer: I don't own Aliens. Story concept and characters belong to me.

Chapter 3

Clean Up

"The hostages appear to be unharmed," Ralph continued his report to Lila.

"How many guards are there?" Lila asked.

The three peered out at the cavern and counted the robed men.

"I got three," Ted said.

"Five," Ralph added.

"Two by the generator," Jessie finished.

"So ten of them then?" Lila sighed.

"The room's too brightly light," Ralph reported. "We could take out the generator, but we'd need a distraction to give us a chance at reaching it."

Ted groaned as an idea came to mind. "Remember Ben's crack?"

"I knew you were one of those," Jessie muttered dryly.

"No!" Ted snapped, glad none of the humans in the cavern could hear his telepathic outburst. "I mean he said the cultist might worship us if we revealed ourselves to them. We might be able to distract them that way."

"Or they might panic and gun you down," Lila said. "They might worship the normal xenomorphs, but they're still human and still have self-defense instincts."

"We'll be careful not to startle them," Ralph said.

"Only one of us should go," Ted said.

"The other two will try to knock out the generator and the sentry guns," Jessie finished Ted's sentence. "Who wants to play the part of alien messiah?"

"It's my plan, I'll do it," Ted volunteered.

"Be careful," Ralph said, placing a clawed hand on his shoulder.

Ted nodded and climbed through the narrow opening. He dropped to the sandy floor without a sound. A circle of light eliminated the area directly in front of him. He slowly made his way around the side of the cave, pressing close against the rock wall. The plan wouldn't work if he drew the Sequatos' attention to the opening.

The shadows shielded him all the way to the side of the cavern. Ted crouched down and examined the hostages from a closer distance. Thick ropes bound their hands and ankles together. He marveled at their inability to see him through the darkness.

"You guys ready?" Ted asked. He felt their reply rather than heard it. Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the light.

The first reaction came from the hostages. A man gasped, a woman shrieked, and several small children burst into tears. The guards noticed him next. The closest one, less than three feet away, turned and raised his gun. Ted tensed up, ready to dive to the side.

"Oh, my God," the man whispered, eyes wide beneath his hood.

Two more guards joined the first, all three pointing their weapons at Ted. He tried not to display any fear, he had to act as much like an alien as possible. He hissed lowly, not a threatening sound, but more of a warning.

"Lower your weapons, damn it!" one of the cultist, this one wearing a large ornate hat hurried over to the surprised guards. When they didn't obey him, he grabbed the barrel of the lead guard's weapon and shoved it down. "We must not threaten the Holy Matriarch's children."

"That doesn't look like any alien I've ever seen," the lead guard said.

"What else could it be?" the cult leader snapped.

Ted tilted his head to the side and hissed. The echoing sound waves gave him a picture of the room. Everyone's attention had focused on him. A pair of hybrids snuck along the wall toward the generator.

"It's some kind of trick," the guard said. "The thing looks too human. Look at it! A true child of the Matriarch would not act like that. Why doesn't it try to carry us off?"

"Guys, I think I might be in trouble," Ted said, remarkably calm despite the weapons still aimed at him.

"Hang on a second," Ralph replied.

Gunshots sounded from the other side of the room, bullets tore through metal and circuitry. The generator whirred loudly and then the lights blinked out all at once.

Ted's vision adjusted to the sudden darkness in seconds. The humans in front of him weren't so lucky. They whipped their heads around, rendered nearly blind.

The hybrid leapt forward, flipping over the three guards. He spun around and drove his fist into the back of one's head. The man grunted and collapsed to the ground. The other two spun toward the source of the noise. Ted drew his gun and shot the one to his left in the leg; he screamed in pain and went down. He leapt back as the one to his right opened fire, the spray of bullets caught the cult leader. He screamed as his own comrade gunned him down. A blow to the face from the butt of Ted's gun took the third guard down.

Ted heard the sound of crushing circuitry followed by Jessie's voice. "The sentry guns are down. You can let the grunts know they're clear to enter."

He glanced back to check on the hostages. None of them had moved and they were still unharmed.

"How many Sequatos have you taken out?" Lila asked.

"I got four of them," Ted said. "Two unconscious, one wounded, and one dead.

"I got two of them by the generator," Ralph said.

"We've got four remaining in the center behind the crates," Jessie reported. "Oops, looks like one's trying to get to the hostages."

"I see him," Ted said. The human came toward him, hunched over. He could see the lights of their reinforcements through the cave tunnel. The three Sequatos opened fire on the source of the light.

"You guys protect the hostages," Ralph said. "I'll take care of the remaining three."

"Got it," Jessie said. He seemed to emerge from the wall and charged towards the guard making his way to the hostages. Jessie slammed into him and knocked him into a crate. The hybrid leapt away leaving the human to glance around in confusion.

"Don't play with him, Jess," Ted sighed, leaping forward. The man gasped as he managed to make out the shape coming towards him. A foot slammed into him and catapulted him backwards. He slammed into a crate and lay still.

Ted stood up and saw Ralph, standing across from him. Ralph reached for his vest and removed a grenade. He pressed his thumb against the detonator and tossed the cylinder toward the three remaining Sequatos. White smoke trailed after the grenade and it exploded into a large cloud. The humans caught inside the gas coughed loudly and ceased firing.

"Okay, the rest of the squad can take it from here," Lila said. "You guys retreat back to the crack. No reason to let the hostages see anymore than they already have."

"You got it," Ralph said. "Move out guys."

* * *

_Later…_

"What have we got?" Lila asked.

"Not much," Ted replied, tapping a claw against a container. The face hugger inside ignored him. "Serial numbers on the containment equipment's been filed off. Whoever gave them this stuff was smart."

"Let's hope he wasn't too smart," Lila said, sweeping her flashlight around the cave. "Time to see if the Sequatos know anything. Who's up for some interrogation?"

"No thanks," Ted said. "I just want to get back to human form and enjoy the sun a bit."

"I'll go," Ralph said.

"All right," Lila said, pulling three syringes from her pocket. "Load these things into the transport and the rest of the day is yours to waste as you like."

Ted walked up to her. Lila didn't flinch as he stood in front of her and took a syringe. He headed toward the cave exit. Jessie and Ralph caught up with him a second later.

"Ben wants to have a game of catch when we're done loading," Jessie reported. "Too bad you volunteered to help sweat the suspects."

They glanced around outside the cave. The sun was setting on the horizon and already the air felt colder. The wind had died down at least. The transport ship sat a short distance away.

The group entered the ship and picked up their clothes. Ted slid his underwear on and stabbed the needle into his arm. Changing back to human was usually easier than the change to alien for some reason.

His fingers cracked as they shrank, claws retracting into fingernails. His chitin softened into flesh as the tubes on his back shriveled away. His head shrank next, tongue softening, teeth dulling. Facial features returned last, first his nose, and then the skin over his eyes separated into eyelids. Ted blinked as his eyes adjusted to the bright cargo hold.

"Time to get back to work," Jessie sighed, pulling on his shirt. "Do us a favor, Ralph, and make the interrogation last as long as possible huh?"

"No promises," Ralph said.

* * *

_Two years ago, Lunar Military Research Base._

Ted glanced around the room. Unlike the present day, he possessed a head of bright red hair. He wasn't the strongest looking marine, but he wasn't thin either. He sat up straight in the chair, hands resting on the armrests.

General Baxter and Professor Tachibana entered the room. Baxter approached him and held out a handful of papers. "Everyone who volunteers for the project must read the terms and conditions and fill out a brief questionnaire. Then we'll run tests on your DNA see how compatible it is and you'll be evaluated by our top psychiatrist."

"Is all of that really necessary?" Ted asked, taking the papers and examining them. It appeared to be at least seven sheets.

"Of course, it is," the General growled.

"There are a lot of factors we have to consider here," Tachibana explained. "This is all for your own safety."

"Guess I can't argue with that," Ted said, glancing down at the first page.

"Why did you volunteer?" Tachibana asked. "Your profile mentioned nothing about you having an incurable disease."

Ted glanced up from his reading and frowned. "I guess you could say it's for the same reason I joined the marines. I want to serve the people and being part of a special unit puts me in a better position to do that than my current job as a guard."

Tachibana nodded a thoughtful expression on his face. "In that case, I wish you luck."


End file.
